Inside Collin Wilder's Pro Day preparation, bonding with the Arnetts

Collin Wilder's football journey has taken twists and turns, and this week in Madison, a key audition in front of NFL personnel will add another chapter to his career.

After playing two seasons at Houston and transferring to Wisconsin as a walk-on, Wilder worked his way up to not just contributor status, but emerged as a starter, a leader and all-Big Ten honorable mention player. He also created and became an entrepreneur with the creation of "The Grit Factory" and its subsequent merchandise during the 2021 campaign.

UW's Pro Day on Wednesday can definitely help to achieve his latest goal of making it to the professional level, possibly another Badger walk-on to land on an NFL roster. Through his preparation for this day, one can say he's also added another title, per se: "honorary Arnett."

While other Badgers have trained in Arizona, California and Louisiana for Pro Day, Wilder stayed within state borders. He has not only worked out at NX Level in Waukesha with renowned trainer Brad Arnett -- father of UW safety Owen Arnett -- since early January, but Wilder has moved in with the family during this time.

Teammates bonding is a common occurrence for many players in a program, but Wilder has become so close to the Arnetts that they added him to the family group text, Brad confirmed after a loud laugh.

"My wife Stacey just said, 'Well, Collin, you're part of the family,'" Brad told BadgerBlitz.com on Monday. "'Well, we got stuff going back and forth and we're figuring out things, we're gonna talk about stuff. We're just gonna throw you in the group text,' and yeah, he's been on the group text now.

"He throws his two cents in and it's kind of funny. Yeah, it's quite hilarious, actually.”

Wilder's relationship with the Arnetts started prior to the current arrangements and training. That obviously began with Owen joining the program, and the two became close over the course of the season. Wilder recalled an introduction to Owen by former Badger walk-on and defensive back Chris Maragos before the freshman headed to campus.

Maragos, an eight-year NFL veteran who played extensively for the Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles, trained with Brad Arnett at NX Level. Wilder also heard praise from other former Badgers at the professional level about Arnett and his work with players.

Wilder worked through not just the rigors of a student-athlete during the 2021 campaign -- juggling hours put forth for academics and football -- but he also needed to navigate a potential future agent and a training location.

“For people who don't know, most agents are connected to workout facilities," Wilder told BadgerBlitz.com on Sunday. "So that's why I called Garrett [Blair] one day during the season, and I was still going through the process of picking an agent, but I really liked this guy, and I was like, ‘Where do you usually have guys train?'

"He's like, ‘Well, I let you pick. You can pick if there's a place that you'd want to go.’ Then I told him, ‘Well I've heard great things about this place called NX Level about an hour away,’ so Garrett called Brad up. I set a meeting up with Brad later on and he gave me a plan, and I loved it. Then he said I could stay in his basement for the time of training."

Arnett recalled the next question, after Wilder made the decision to train at NX Level, was whether to commute to and from Madison every day or if there were connections to more local lodging available.

"As I had gotten to know, Collin -- and I got to know his family through the regular season and so on and so forth on -- I’m like, ‘Collin, listen, I've got a full bedroom in the basement, and basically it's like an apartment,'" Arnett said. "'You're more than welcome to stay with us at home, and you're right there and just do what you got to do and let it go.’"

Brad Arnett called Wilder "an easy addition to the family" with hanging out, cooking and watching movies. Owen, who redshirted last year, has embraced his former teammate living with his parents, according to Wilder. That included filling him in on the house rules, the Arnetts' three dogs -- including their chocolate lab that may awaken him at night -- and training when the first-year Badger was home before returning to UW.

"Owen was the one just to kind of introduce me to everything, and I'm just so grateful for the entire family for all that they've done for me up to this point," Wilder said. "There's stuff I just can't repay them for.”

Wilder believes his training at NX Level and his current situation have "been a fantastic experience," in his words. His main priority was feeling confident in his technique, form and the drills, and for that matter, he believes he is at that point leading up to Pro Day -- an event that will bring in various NFL personnel to the McClain Center in Madison.

The last time local reporters spoke to Wilder was on Dec. 14 in that same venue, a day after he released a video via Wisconsin social media stating that he would miss the Las Vegas Bowl due to injury. He later explained that a hit given on his lone snap in the Nov. 27 loss to Minnesota -- one where he was called for targeting and subsequently ejected from the contest -- led to ligaments attached to his spine being stretched.

No surgery was needed, but Wilder disclosed he was in midst of a six-week recovery process. That included not performing upper body lifts until Jan. 5 when he started his Pro Day preparation.

However, Wilder has worked to regain strength after his required pause after the regular season, and he has been training according to Arnett's plans for quite some time.

“I'm feeling great," Wilder said. "I've been cleared for all activity, including playing football, several weeks ago. But I've been doing all the full workouts, full activity. I've been doing that since early January. The doctor said it would heal on its own in six weeks, and it's played its course and I'm healed up and ready to go.

"Ready to be me again and fly around on the field at some point whenever, God willing, I get that chance again."

Wilder's schedule still calls for a light balance of academics and training, where he continues to take two online courses on his own time this semester. However, he usually heads to NX Level for a single workout period around 11 a.m. After a warmup period that can last up to or over an hour, which leaves him sweating yet prepared for the day's trials, the sessions last about two-and-a-half to three hours.

Being close to Madison allows Wilder to still head back to UW, as he performs some on-field drills on Saturdays. He also receives an opportunity to catch up with Wisconsin coaches and his former teammates.

Wilder mentioned the aforementioned confidence he feels currently, as well as the love he has for the preparation put forth. One area where he has seen dividends is the reduction of body fat by 3%, thanks to a nutritional meal prep plan.

“So that's one thing that I'm really thankful for, and that shows just the work that Brad has given to me, and the work that we both put in," Wilder said. "Results are showing, so I'm confident and not only that, but in the results that should come on Pro Day.

"But the great thing about Brad is that he doesn't over coach. He gives you the important points, and then he says just go be an athlete. Just run, just go, and he's really good at just cutting you loose and after coaching you on the little things that can make a big difference in your technique. Doing that over and over with him, it's been great. I feel really confident up to this point going into these drills, so that's all you can ask for.”

Arnett explained how he worked to teach Wilder the significance of receiving fuel from whole food and how that factors into the recovery process. He also has seen the changes to Wilder's body, which has resulted in the safety moving and feeling better.

“You start talking about 3% difference in body comp, and body weight pretty much staying about the same, you end up changing a lot of access into lean," Arnett said. "Which the more lean you carry and the more you improve that relative body strength, the better you do on everything, and that's right where he's at. He's done a great job with it.”

Wilder continues his preparation not just in a physical manner, but also in asking for advice about his ongoing process. Luckily, several former Badgers now in the NFL train at NX Level, and the defensive back received "great advice" from fullback Derek Watt and linebacker T.J. Edwards in the past two weeks.

However, Wilder also knows everyone's path varies. He leaned on Maragos as well, who went undrafted before he proved himself at the pro level.

“I talked to Chris Maragos, too, and I think just the biggest thing was just getting guys who kind of were in a similar draft stock as I am," Wilder said. "I'm not projected to be, let alone, drafted. I'm trying to get one of the first phone calls after the draft.

"That's the realistic thing of it. If I get drafted, that'd be great. But I'm trying to try to have that perspective of, 'Alright, for guys who are under the radar, how did this process work for you? If you had a great Pro Day, what was next?' They've kind of given me some really good advice on just how to handle that after Pro Day."

What transpires after Wednesday's events appears fluid, as Wilder described. Teams may show interest via contact at any time, fly him out for an interview, or put him through a workout session at franchises’ facilities or in Madison. He knows that he will need to adjust and be ready if his name is called, literally.

“It's an experience that I've never really even been close to experiencing before. So I'm just ready to kind of go wherever I'm told and do whatever I'm told to do. And, hopefully, I'll get plenty of phone calls after Pro Day, which means that I would have had a really good Pro Day.

"That's the goal."

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